Articles by Beatrice Labonne

Everything I wanted to know I learned it at the samba schools!

In spite of their name the “escolas de samba” the samba schools of Rio de Janeiro are not teaching institutions.  But they are surely the most entertaining and efficient education mechanism on earth!   Rio‘s Carnival is about superlatives. The Cariocas as the residents of Rio de Janeiro are known brag that their carnival is the most beautiful show on earth.  I agree with this claim.  The samba school parades are models of artistic expression and good organization; they run like military parades except for their trademark opulent floats, loose-hipped samba dancers, multicolored costumes, feathers and nudity.  The carnival ritual is probably the best run competition in the whole Latin America.   There is more to samba schools than samba.  By providing jobs to the favelas, the slum communities, they are respected social outlets, renowned engines of technical creativity, and resourceful providers of popular education.  It is too bad that their dark side is routinely making headlines.  Many samba schools have unfortunately morphed into drug money laundry mats.  Recently, the number of body bags has soared as a result of renewed vicious conflicts between the sponsoring drug warlords. Samba school parades are increasingly costly undertakings.  This year, government subsidies are trying to partially substitute the flow of illicit funding.  It is estimated that the 2008 Carioca Carnival has a US$ 35 millions price tag.  Contrary to the heavily publicized and wasteful government programs, the samba schools deliver knowledge to the people in the most exciting, resourceful and often provocative ways.  Some samba schools seem to relish controversial choices.   This year is a case in point; a local judge issued an injunction and banned the Viradouro samba school from parading on the famed Sambadrome with one of its floats illustrating the Holocaust.  Apparently mannequins were hanging like dead bodies from the float, and a bum-gyrating Hitler was watching the scene from above.  There are obviously more refined ways to make the horror of the Holocaust known to the average samba lover who probably never heard of it in the first place.  The samba schools are unique in providing painless access to information one would otherwise shun because regarded as tedious, lofty or even academic.  Social and historic themes are the bread and butter of samba schools.  A couple of years ago Portela the grand lady of samba schools chose the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations as the theme of its musical parade.  I vividly remember samba dancers dressed as condoms! They were perched on the float representing the fight against HIV/AIDS, one of the eight MDG goals.  Other dancers meant to be spermatozoids and were wiggling a quick samba step beside the float.    Feel good causes have always received the blessing of the samba schools; environment protection of the Amazon forest is a carnival staple! Water protection is another recurring theme. Brazil’s mighty rivers, the Amazon and the Sao Francisco are favorites of the samba organizers.  The samba enredo or samba song lyrics have been quick to criticize the government’s environmental shortcomings. Samba schools have occasionally advertised the success of Brazilian technology.  Plenty of artistic creativity is required to make bio-fuels like ethanol carnival attractions!  But it was done with impressive results.  The 2008 Carnival will probably be remembered for its extravaganza and provocation; it will certainly make history for its over-the-top interpretation of historic events. At least four of the leading samba schools are joining forces to celebrate a major landmark namely the coming of the Portuguese royal family to Rio 200 years ago.  They are addressing the topic through their own perspective.   Move away boring historians, the samba school parade is rewriting History.  The main hero of this historic saga is the chubby chicken-wing-lover prince Joao.  The main characters of his dysfunctional family, his mad mother Maria, his feral wife Carlota Joaquina, his sex-maniac son Pedro are parading and strutting their stuff on the sambadrome.  In addition to these close family members, the enemy Napoleon, his wife Marie-Louise, the guillotined Marie-Antoinette are also making appearance.  The mad queen is impersonated by a well-known Brazilian transvestite   Last year the Beija-flor samba school won the hotly disputed samba parade contest by celebrating the diversity and magic of the African continent.  Carnivals have routinely celebrated the Portuguese immigration, as well as the contribution of native Indian people.  This year one samba school will focus on the Japanese immigration to Brazil which is commemorating its 100 year anniversary.  Staid and even stolid topics are not off limits to inventive samba schools.  The Vila Isabel samba school received sponsoring from the main trade union to celebrate the achievements of Brazilian workers through history.    It is established that the Rio carnival took off at the dawn of the 20th century as a social outlet for recently freed slaves; carnival was then inspired by their African culture and strongly influenced by their dancing and beat.  Now it has become an inter-community and well-oiled multi-million dollar pageant.  Carnival has always raised passion; the loyal followers of samba schools squarely compare with fans of football clubs.  Carnival pundits are still debating what comes first, the music and lyrics or the artistic expression? Is Carnival about artistic expression and creativity or about popular entertainment?  This widening divergence in perception is probably at the origin of the Viradouro’s float controversy.  Many dyed in the wool sambistas blame the pursuit of over-the-top creativity for the increasingly poor quality of the samba music and lyrics.  For the international media, samba fuels the carioca’s soul.  A recent survey may prove the contrary: a whooping 59% didn’t care for carnival and worse, 10% hated it.    By the way, Viradouro replaced the banned float by another one illustrating… intolerance.  Is carnival about free speech, artistic provocation or popular entertainment or even education? Long live Rio’s carnival!   Beatrice Labonne, February 3, 2008.